What is a webinar moderator?

Someone who works behind the scenes, supporting the host and taking care of practicalities; the logistics and technical side of things.

If you’re a presenter, having your moderator alongside lets you focus and frees your mind to deliver an engaging, live presentation without worrying about technical issues.

I recently moderated a series of NLP4Kids live training webinars, delivered by NLP Coach, Lisa Birtles.

Having worked with Lisa on the content, I already knew how the presentation would flow and exactly how I could support her during the live events.  After the final webinar, we reflected on what went well and came up our top 10 tips for hosting great live webinars:

Top webinar tips

1. Rehearse 

   Give yourself plenty of time to practice timing and make any changes.

2. Check

   Ask someone to proofread every slide.  Check for consistency across slide titles, font sizes, colour combinations and if you have to have them, bullet points.

3. Roles
   

   Agree who’s doing what.  What the moderator will handle and what the host presenter will do. For example, who will start the recording and who will run the polls?

4. Audience
   

   Let your moderator know what you need from the audience. Should they be in listen only mode?  Will they be participating in a poll? How will they ask questions?

5. Sound
   

   There’s nothing worse for an audience than poor quality audio.  Invest in a high quality headset and microphone – don’t rely on your laptop microphone.

6. Prepare
   

   Set up and join 15 minutes before the start. Is everything is working? Are the slides visible? Is presenter’s voice clear?

7. Noise

   It’s always worth sticking a “do not disturb” sign on your door.  Also clear your desk of clutter to avoid any paper rustling in the background and turn off mobile phones.

8. Plan B

   Have a back-up plan in case something goes wrong. If there’s a power cut the show can still go on if your presenter has dialled in with a landline and the moderator is set up to take control of the presentation.

9. Privacy
   

   If recording your webinar, let your audience know at the start.

10. Follow up

    Leave your last slide on screen to tell your audience where to go to find more information.

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“I was so grateful to have you online and in my corner last Thursday – you’ll never know how much of a difference it made to me.”

Lisa Birtles, NLP4Kids, Coaching & Therapy for Kids & Teens